Black Coffee
by musicofthespheres
Summary: Vegeta inherits a coffee shop. This isn't what he had in mind when he left Frieza's employ all those years ago, but sometimes life takes you in funny directions. With the help of the assistant manager, Goku, the weekend supervisor, Piccolo, and an over-worked bunch of baristas, Vegeta turns the store into something even he can be proud of.
1. Inheritance

Vegeta looks up from his computer at the smartly-dressed man standing in his doorway, about to knock. "Yes?" Vegeta says, mildly annoyed that his secretary hasn't informed him of a visitor.

"Your secretary was away from her desk," the man informs him, sensing Vegeta's irritability. "And I have some important news that shouldn't wait." He hesitates at the door, waiting for Vegeta to inform his next move.

Checking his schedule and seeing that his afternoon is free, Vegeta motions him in wordlessly. The man closes the door behind him and takes a seat at one of the plush leather chairs situated in front of Vegeta's desk. "My name is Kami," the man says once he settles in and places a folio of documents on Vegeta's desk. "I am the lawyer representing the estate of a Mr. Frieza. I'm to inform you that he has been, er, that is to say," he clears his throat, "that he has passed away. I am here on behalf of Mr. Zarbon, the executor of Mr. Frieza's estate."

"Frieza's dead?" Vegeta can't help but exclaim.

Kami nods. "Yes, I am afraid so. I'm here to inform you that you've been left an inheritance."

Vegeta can't believe it. He hasn't heard hide nor hair of Frieza and his cronies in nearly a decade. Vegeta had moved on. He'd made a life of his own: finished his business degree, got a high-paying executive job, his own office. A secretary! He'd never dreamed he'd have a secretary of his own.

"Wait," he says, snapping out of his reverie. "Did you say 'inheritance'?" Since when would Frieza leave him anything? They hated each other's guts. Frieza had vowed to put a bullet in Vegeta's head the next time they met.

"Yes," Kami replies succinctly. He sighs. "I'm afraid it's not a conventional lump sum of money, however," he continues. "Mr. Frieza left particular instructions in his Will that you be given ownership of the coffee shop he owned."

A coffee shop. Frieza had purchased, with his hard-earned and probably illegal money, a coffee shop. Of all things. "What was it, a front?" Vegeta asks drily.

Kami chuckles. "Ah, no. This was one of Mr. Frieza's, er, legitimate interests. He specifically requested that you run it in his stead once he passed on. He said that you were the most qualified, having pursued your business degree and taking employ at such a prestigious company."

Vegeta tilted his head. "So then why would he think I'd have _any_ interest in running a… a _coffee shop_?" he asked.

Kami shrugged. "I mean, he's dead, you can do what you want with it. Sell it, close it, anything at all."

Vegeta contemplated this for a moment before sliding the folio toward him. Yeah. Alright. What the hell.

A/N: This story was originally published on AO3 under the same title. You can also find goodies on my tumblr (url: jadefyre) under tagged/black-coffee-au.


	2. Change

Vegeta stands in front of the storefront that holds his new business. He frowns, glancing down at a clipboard containing the finalization of the property transfer. Well, this is it. No going back now.

Vegeta had always wanted to own his own business. He would build his own empire independent of Frieza and his iron grip and ice-cold heart. He just hadn't expected it to be… This. Oh well. It may pay less than his job with DB Enterprises did, but it will give him more control. He can build it up and then move on to bigger and better things.

A small red car pulls into the parking lot and stops next to Vegeta's Mercedes. The man who steps out walks straight for Vegeta and sticks out his hand. "Goku Kakarot. I'm the assistant manager."

Vegeta stares down at the proffered hand and raises an eyebrow. _I guess I better at least be civil with my employees_ , he thinks, _lest they all decide to leave and I'm left with a business I have no clue how to run._ He takes Goku's hand and shakes it once, firmly. "I am Vegeta," he says. "I assume you've been informed that I now own this… establishment."

Goku nods. "Yes, sir. I was saddened to hear about Mr. Frieza's passing."

 _I wasn't_ , Vegeta thinks darkly. _I almost jumped for joy._

Goku continues, "I never saw him much. He was technically the manager, I guess, but he never hired anyone outright to run the store. He mostly left that to me. I guess he had a lot of other businesses to tend to."

 _Other businesses, indeed,_ Vegeta thinks.

Goku leads Vegeta inside; the shop is closed now, the day being Sunday and the time past 6:30. "So, do you have any big plans for this place?" Goku asks as he unlocks the door. "Kami told me you were planning on being pretty hands-on with it."

Vegeta looked around as they stepped inside. It was spacious; there was a lounge area with a couple of plush chairs, a restaurant seating area with 8 or so tables, and the counter itself which was set up simply but functionally. "How many are employed here?" Vegeta responded.

Goku thought for a moment, then counted on his fingers. "Well there's me. I'm both assistant manager and a shift supervisor. I work full-time every week day, and then we have Piccolo who's the shift supervisor on the weekends. Our full-time Baristas are Tien and Krillin, and then Chiaotzu who's part-time. And Yajirobe, who doesn't really do a lot but will fill in for a shift if someone calls in sick." He opened the office door. "I'm looking at hiring on a few more because we're pretty under-staffed at the moment. Mr. Frieza had a few employees he personally hired but they all left after he passed. I had to cut back our hours of operation in the meantime."

Vegeta nods, absent-mindedly running a hand along the weathered door frame. "I'm going to have to do a lot of renovating," he mutters. The space has too much potential to be left as it is. "Kakarot," Vegeta interrupts Goku, who is in the process of running through numbers for the last several months.

"Er, 'Goku' is fine," Goku says.

Vegeta stares him down. "As I was saying, Kakarot, there are several changes that I would like made. I'm going to close the shop for two months, but I don't want to go through the trouble of hiring new workers. Please inform your employees their jobs will be here when I re-open."

Goku frowns. "Um," he begins, trying to find the best way to protest. "That's a generous offer, but-"

"But what?" Vegeta growls. "The numbers you've read me are pitiful. This place should have much higher traffic for the area it's in, and the decor looks like it came straight from last century. And not in a good way."

"It's just that this is the only job that many of them have. It's the only way that they can support themselves. Tien and Krillin are good guys, and I'd hate to see them scrambling for work. We're kind of like a family here, you know?"

Vegeta scowls. Family means nothing to him. The only "family" he had ever been a part of was Frieza's, and the sort of family loyalty the lot of them showed had left a bitter, bitter taste in Vegeta's mouth. But at the same time, the decade he had spent out from underneath Frieza's thumb had proven to him that sometimes the world could be an okay place. Perhaps he could use some of them in the meantime. As for their making a living, well. He knew what it was like to be suddenly jobless and scrambling for any way to support yourself. He wouldn't wish such a fate on the average person. "Okay," he concedes after several moments of thought. "One month of paid leave and two weeks paid training. But they're on their own for the other two weeks."

Goku visibly deflates with relief. He didn't expect Vegeta to give in so easily or so generously, especially given Kami's description of him and after hearing all the stories.

"You, on the other hand, I will keep busy for the entirety of the closing," Vegeta continues. "I will need your expert opinion for design choices and machinery upgrades." Delegation had never been his strong suit, but even he has to admit that he's in over his head with this one. "I plan to close in two weeks to give everyone time to make arrangements."

More than happy to be so included in the planning process, Goku nods. "If I may make a suggestion, I would advise that Piccolo be let in on the decision-making. He's really got a head for all this stuff."

Vegeta admires Goku's boldness in speaking up. He's annoyed at his presumptuousness but decides not to fault him for it. Vegeta will never, ever admit it out loud, but in this one thing he's more than happy to follow somebody else's lead. At least for the first little while.

 **A/N:** Find this story on AO3 under /users/musicofthespheres and other goodies on under /tagged/black-coffee-au


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